Reclining chairs



March 3; 19.59 v F. F. scHLlEPHAcKE 2,875,814

RECLINING CHAIRS l Filed June 18, 1957 l 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. FRIDTJOF E' SGHLIEPHACKE A TTORNE Y Marh'3, 1959 F. F. SCHLIEPHACXE 2,875,814 v RECLINING- CHAIRS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 1s, 1957y INVENTOR. FRIDTJOF E SCHLIEPHACKE BY Y ATTORNEY March 3, 1959 F. F. scHLlEPHAcKE 2,875,814

RECLINING cHArRs Y4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 18, 1957 INVENTOR. FRI DTJOF E SCH LIEPHACKE AT TORNE Y March 3, 1959 F. F. scHLlEPl-ICKE 2,875,814

RECLINING CHAIRS Filed June 18, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. FRIDTJOF F. SCHLIEPHACKE FIG. z BY 4 A TTORNEX United States Patent RECLINING CHAIRS Fridtiof F. Schliephacke, Berlin-Schmargendorf, Germany, assignor to Anton Lorenz, Boynton Beach, Fla.

Application June 18, 1957, Serial No. 666,337 8 Claims. (Cl. 155-106) This invention relates to chairs and pertains particularly to reclining chairs having a backrest, a seat, and a leg rest, all supported on a base frame and movable with respect to said base frame and with respect to each other to assume a reclining position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a reclining chair in which the backrest, seat and leg rest, when moved to reclining position, support the body of the occupant in a relaxed, comfortable position.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a construction in which the operative connections between the parts of the chair are such as to permit a compact arrangement of parts adapted to conform to modern styling having a light, graceful appearance.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a construction in which, in the upright position of the chair, the leg rest is located beneath the seat and is substantially concealed from view, and in which, in the reclining position of the chair, the leg rest is swung downwardly, forwardly and upwardly to a position in advance of the seat.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a side elevation of the chair, one side frame being broken away, the chair being shown in upright position.

Figure 2 is a similar view, showing the chair in reclining position. v

Figure 3 is a perspective view, showing the chair in upright position.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modified form, ing only the front end of the seat and leg rest in reclining position.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of another modied form, one side frame being broken away, showing only the front end of the seat and the leg rest in upright position.

Figure 6 is a similar view, showing the parts in reclining position. v

Figure 7 is a perspective view, showing the parts in upright position.

Referring to Figures l, 2 and 3 of the drawings, the base frame comprises pairs of legs 1, 2 tied together transversely by cross bars 3, 4 to form a supporting cradle showfor the side frames 5, 6 which are rigidly secured thereto.

The side frames may be rigidly connected by a cross frame 7. The legs 1, 2 and cross bars 3, 4 may conveniently be made of suitable structural metal shapes such as rods or tubing, and the side frames 5, 6 and cross frame 7 may conveniently be made of wood or metal, upholstered or not, as desired. The cradle and side frames together form a base frame unit supporting the movable parts of the chair as hereinafter described.

The movable parts of the chair include a backrest 8, a seat 9, and a leg rest 10. Each of these movable parts may be of any desired type of standard construction, 11p- "ice holstered, or not, as desired. As shown, each of these movable parts is an upholstered type, in which the upholstery is mounted on a suitable supporting frame. In the following description the operative connections between the movable parts will be described with respect to only one side of the chair, it being understood that said parts are duplicated on the other side of the chair.

The backrest 8 is pivotally mounted on the side frames 5, 6 by -means of a pivot pin 11 mounted in the backrest side frame 12 and extending into socket 13 in the side frame. Also rigidly mounted on the backrest side frame 12 is a bar 14 which extends downwardly from pin 11 for pivotal connection to the free end of bar 15 by means of pivot pin 16. Bar 15 is rigidly mounted on Kseat frame 17 and extends rearwardly therefrom for connection to pivot pin 16.

The seat 9 is pivotally connected to a guide link 18 by means of a pivot pin 19 extending through the bar 15. One end of the guide link is pivotally -mounted on the side frame 5 by means of pivot pin 21, so that, as the chair is moved to reclining position, the rearward swinging motion of the backrest, acting through the bars 14 and 15, acting as levers, moves the seat forwardly, swinging the guide link 18 forwardly to the position yshown in Figurev 2. In doing so, the guide link 18 guides and supports the seat, the action being such as to raise the level of the seat slightly, while at the same time increasing its angle of slope toward the rear.

The leg rest 10 is supported to swing on the front endv of the seat 9 as hereinafter described, and means are provided for actuating the leg rest from the backrest, so that as the backrest swings backwardly to reclining position, the leg rest is moved to leg supporting position. For this purpose, the bar 14 is extended downwardly below the pivot pin 16 to receive a pivot pin 22, pivotally connected to one end of link 23, the other end of which is pivotally connected to an intermediate portion of lever 24 by pivot pin 25. Lever 24 is pivotally mounted at one end on side frame 5 by pivot pin 26, and is pivotally connected at its other end by pivot pin 27 to one end o-f an actuating lever 28.

Actuating lever 28, so referred to because itserves as the leg rest actuating lever, is pivotally connected at its other end to bracket 29, rigidly mounted on the leg rest frame, by pivot pin 30. Actuating lever 28 is also pivotally connected, intermediate its ends to one end of connecting lever 31 by pivot pin 32. Connecting lever 31 is pivotally mounted on the seat frame by means of pivot pin 33, and the other end of connecting lever 31 is pivotally connected to one end of link 34 by means of pivot pin 35. The other end of link 34 is pivotally connected to one end of supporting lever 36 by means of pivot pin 37. Supporting lever 36, which supports the leg rest 10 for swinging movement on the forward end of the seat is pivotally mounted, intermediate its ends, on the seat frame by means of pivot pin 38. The other end of supporting lever 36 is pivotally connected to link 39 by pivot pin 40, and link 39, in turn, is pivotally connected to the leg rest frame by pivot pin 41 extending through bracket 42 attached to the leg rest frame.

In the upright position of the chair, as illustrated in Figures l and 3, the backrest is tilted slightly backwardly from a vertical position, and the seat slopes slightly downwardly 'from front to back in order to provide a comfortable seated posture for the occupant. ln this position, the leg rest is located beneath the seat, and is almost entirely concealed from view. In the reclining position, as illustrated in Figure 2, the backrest is tilted backwardly, as shown, and the seat is moved forwardly and upwardly while the angle of slope is increased slightly. At the same time, the leg rest has been swung downwardly,

3 forwardly and upwardly to a position to support the legs of the occupant.

The shift from upright to reclining position may be brought about whenever one sitting in the chair in its upright position exerts backward pressure against the` backrest by shifting the weight of the body or by pressing forwardly against the side frames of thev base unit, or both. As the backrest swings backwardly on the iixed pivot 11, levers 14 and 15 move the seat forwardly, causing the guide lever 18 to swing forwardly oniixed pivot 21, guiding and supporting the seat. At the same time, the downward extension of lever 14, acting through link 23, swings the lever 24 forwardly on fixed pivot'26, which motion, in turn, moves the actuating lever 28 forwardly. The .forward motion of actuating lever ZSfhas two results. First, it moves the pivot 30 of the leg rest forwardly to a position in advance of the seat. Second, through actuation of connecting lever 31, link 34, supporting lever 36 and link 39, it swings the leg rest downwardly, forwardly and upwardly to the position shown in Figure 2L If, now, it is desired to resume uprightl position, it is only necessary to exert slight downward pressure on the leg rest, accompanied, if desired, by pressing backwardly against the side frames to relieve the backward pressure of the body against the backrest.

In the modification shown in Figure 4, the construction as previously described except for the links 39, pivot pins 4i) and brackets 42. As shown in Figure 4, in place of these parts, the end of lever 36 and itscounterpart'36 at the other side of the chair are connected by a rigid rod 43 having mounted thereon, near its middle, a single rigidly connected link 44. This link 44 is pivotall3 connected by pivot pin 45 to link 46 which, in turn, is pivotally connected to bracketl 47 attached to the leg rest frame. The operation is as ypreviously described, but the elimination of the two side links `39 enhances the appearance of the chair. In the modification of Figure 4, the side frames ofthe seat are inotchedas shown at 4S to accommodate the rod -43 in the .upright position of the chair.

In the modification shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7 the construction is as previously described .exceptas to the manner in which the leg rest is actuated by the leg rest actuating lever 28. This actuating lever 28, which is pivotally connected at its forward end .to bracket` 51 by pivot pin 52 in the same manner as previously described, is also pivotally connected' bypivot pin 53 toone end of connecting lever 54, the other end of which is pivotally mounted on the seat frame by vpivot pin 55. Connecting lever 54 is pivotally connected at an lintermediate point to one end of link 56 by pivot pin 57, the other'end of said link 56 being pivotally connected by pivot pin `58 to one arm of a supporting lever -59 which is pivotally mounted on the seat frame by pivot pin 60. In the modified form shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7 the modification of Figure 4 is also used, that is, the other arm of the supporting lever 59 is connected to its counterpart on the other side of the chair by a rod 61, and said rod carries a rigidly connected link 62 near its middle. This link 62 is pivotally connected by pivot pin 63 to link 64 which, in turn, is pivotally connected to bracket 65 attached to the leg rest frame.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modiiied and embodied within thescope ,of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A reclining chair comprisingV a base unit having opposed, spaced side frames, a backrest located between said side frames and pivotally mounted on said side frames, a seat located between said side frames and pivotally connected to said backrest at a point below the point where said backrest is pivotally mounted on said side frames, whereby said seat is V moved forwardly when said backrest is tilted backwardly on said side frames,

a guide link pivotally connected'to said seat and to an opposed side frame, said guide link supporting and guiding said seat as it moves with respect to said side frames, a leg restmounted to swing on the forward end of said seat, and means operatively connected to said backrest to swing `saidlegrest to a position in advance o said seat when said backrest is tilted backwardly with respect to said side frames, said means including a leg rest actuating lever pivotally connected to said leg rest and operatively connected' to said backrest, a leg rest supporting lever pivotally mounted on saidseat and op,- eratively connected to said leg rest, and means including a connecting lever pivotally mounted on said seat. for,

operatively connecting said legrest supporting lever to said leg rest actuating lever.

2. A reclining chair as claimed in claim l in which said leg rest supporting lever is connected to saidV leg rest by a link.

3. A recliningA chair as claimed in clairn l in Vwhich said leg rest supporting lever is connected to said connectinglever by a link.

4. A reclining chair as claimed in claim l in which one end of said leg rest supporting lever is connected to said leg rest by a link, and the other endvis connected to said connecting lever by a link.

5. A reclining chair as claimed in claim l in which said operative connection between said leg rest actuating lever and lSaid backrest includes a lever pivoted on a side frame' and a link Iconnecting said lever to said backrest.

6. A reclining chair as claimed in claim l in which said leg rest actuating lever is operatively connected to said back rest at a point'below the point where said seat is pivoted on said backrest.

7. A reclining chair as claimed in claim l in which said connecting lever is pivotally mounted on said seat at a point intermediate its ends and has one end operatively connected to said leg rest actuating lever vand the otherendoperatively connected to said leg lrest supporting lever.

8. A reclining chair as claimed in claim 1 in which one end of said connecting lever is pivotally mounted on `said seat and the other end of said connecting lever is pivotally connected to said leg rest actuating lever, and in which an intermediate point of said connecting lever is operatively connected to said leg lrest supporting lever.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,779,392 Knabusch et al Jan. 29, 1957 2,781,824 Lorenz Feb. 19, 1957 FOREIGN yPATENTS 166,239 Australia Dec. 6, 1955 724,385 Great Britain Feb. 16, 1955 

